Super Bowl won't deter Groundhog Day crowds in Pennsylvania

We're the No. 1 event that day and the Super Bowl is No. 2 behind us."

Groundhog co-handler Ron Ploucha holds Punxsutawney Phil after Phil didn't see his shadow and predicted an early spring last year. Ploucha is expecting a big crowd this year despite the Super Bowl. Alex Wong/Getty Images

Tens of thousands of diehard fans are shivering with anticipation for a huge outdoor spectacle next Sunday.

They’re ready to spend hours braving the elements, warmed by the mere thought that they’ll be witnessing history unfold before them as they stand shoulder to shoulder with kindred spirits.

Commentators from around the globe will be breathlessly reporting the action on the field, scrutinizing every move, noting any questionable calls.

Next Sunday, the world will be watching as a groundhog named Phil scampers out of a tree stump in Punxsutawney, Pa., to weigh in on whether Old Man Winter will make an early departure this year.

About 20,000 spectators are expected to attend the ceremony at sunrise in a woodsy park called Gobbler’s Knob.

The folks in Punxsutawney are utterly ambivalent about the Super Bowl, which will take place on Groundhog Day for the first time in NFL history. They say they have no concerns that Phil will be overshadowed by the big game at MetLife Stadium.

"We’re the No. 1 event that day and the Super Bowl is No. 2 behind us," said Ron Ploucha, Phil’s handler. "We have emails and phone calls from virtually all over the world. If you went to New Zealand, they probably wouldn’t know much about the Super Bowl, but believe me, they know about Punxsutawney Phil and what goes on here."

The ritual, which dates back 128 years, transforms a small town in western Pennsylvania into a media mecca. The hero of the day is a prescient rodent whose gestures are interpreted by village elders in top hats and tuxedos. If Phil emerges from his heated burrow at 7:20 a.m. and doesn’t see his shadow, spring will arrive six weeks early, according to legend.

"We love Phil more than football," said Katie Laska, owner of Laska’s Pizza and Caterina’s Dolce Cucina, which serves Phil lattes. A groundhog statue, adorned with a chef’s hat and mustache, stands outside the pizzeria. "We have our own Super Bowl every year here with Phil. The crowd starts coming out at 2 a.m. and they’re singing groundhog songs and dancing and it’s one big party. It’s much more entertaining than the halftime show."

The Punxsutawney Chamber of Commerce operates an online Phil gift shop that sells souvenir apparel. Michele Neal, director of the chamber, is hoping that some of the spectators at MetLife will be wearing groundhog gear in honor of the holiday.

"This is Phil’s day, and we have a cute little beanie hat that I think they should all be wearing," said Neal.

"We are dedicated to Phil and we trust in him. It’s the same love that people have for their team. Teams have horrible years and you’re still out there and cheering them on, and when they’re in the Super Bowl, there’s all that much more to celebrate and you’ll put on your long underwear and stick your earmuffs on and be out there to cheer on your team because you love them and support them and believe in them."

Neal said the size of the groundhog crowd fluctuates from year to year. Attendance takes a hit when storms move through and/or Feb. 2 falls on a weekday. She said she doesn’t think the Super Bowl will have a dramatic impact.

"A lot of people book this a year in advance," said Neal. "Those people will still be attending and a lot of the local people, people in Pittsburgh and people who are one or two hours away, they can still come in for the day, go home, take a nap and be up for the Super Bowl. We do have visitors come from New Jersey and New York, so they may choose to stay home this year."

Punxsutawney Mayor James Wehrle said that the 1993 Bill Murray comedy, "Groundhog Day," put the town on the pop cultural map. Generations of movie devotees have descended on Punxsutawney and visitors arrive year-round, not just on Groundhog Day.

"It started out as word of mouth and then it was the news media and it really took off after the movie," said Wehrle. "You got more to the mass of people. The movie is constantly on cable so we get buses in the summertime."

When the Broncos square off against the Seahawks on Groundhog Day in New Jersey, all sorts of precedents will be shattered. Super Bowl 2014 is the first outdoor game in a cold weather city. It is only the third NFL championship featuring two teams named after animals. The only other time animals were so prominent on the marquee was in 2007, when the Colts defeated the Bears at Dolphin Stadium in Miami (now renamed Sun Life Stadium).

Ploucha said that people have expressed an interest in recruiting Phil as a sports prognosticator. Critters in other states pick teams every year. Ploucha said Phil’s sole focus is weather. The groundhog lives in Pittsburgh Steelers country, but he has no team affiliation, Ploucha said.

Jersey groundhog predicts weather and teams for first Groundhog Day Super BowlClover, the resident groundhog at the Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, offered up a weather prognostication for the Super Bowl on Feb. 2. The prescient rodent also picked the teams that will vie for the Lombardi trophy during the first outdoor, cold weather Super Bowl, taking place at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. The game is being played on Groundhog Day, another NFL first. (Video by Lisa Rose/The Star-Ledger)

"We don’t like to alienate people so Phil doesn’t have any favorites," said Ploucha. "Of course, the humans around here are big Steelers fans, but Phil himself stays neutral on sports and politics and things like that that are controversial."

Phil is facing one other challenge next Sunday and it’s completely unrelated to the Super Bowl. Last year was a season of scandal for the groundhog. He predicted an early spring, but storms in March and April led to questions of credibility.

A prosecutor in Ohio jokingly lobbed fraud accusations at the woodchuck and a tempest of threats swirled on the Internet, Ploucha said.

"I saw pictures of Phil being shot and run over and hanged," said Ploucha. "When Phil predicted an early spring and we were getting snowstorms in April, apparently that brought out a dark side in people. I had to defriend people on Facebook that were posting pictures. I can guarantee Phil has never been wrong. There have been incorrect interpretations of his prediction but he himself has never been wrong. There are two figures that are infallible: the pope and Punxsutawney Phil."

The meteorological stakes are high this year, particularly after weeks of blistering cold misery.

"It doesn’t matter to him what has happened so far this winter," said Ploucha. "Phil says, ‘Polar vortex, shmolar vortex.’ He’s going to determine things on Feb. 2 depending on whether that shadow appears or not."